BARNET V GILLINGHAM PREVIEW

Gillingham visit Underhill tomorrow and will be well supported in terms of numbers. The Gills top the table and are managed by former Barnet boss Martin Allen.

On Allen’s return to Underhill, Head Coach Mark Robson had this to say: “Martin is obviously a familiar face around Underhill and I’m sure we all wish him well in his new role at Priestfield Stadium.

“But of course from our perspective it is how the Bees perform that interests Barnet supporters.”

New signing, central defender David Stephens was taken off after 35 minutes at Millwall in midweek on his debut in the black and amber in an U21 fixture. Mark Robson explains, “This was more of a precaution than anything and I’m sure that he will be OK for tomorrow.”

Jon Nurse is also expected to be available after suffering an injury in the York City game which caused him to leave the pitch on a stretcher two weeks ago.

Clearly results have been below expectations but there has been a passionate rallying call from the Chairman this week allied to a confident sounding Head Coach who says: “I have no doubt that we’ll move up the league and this is the feeling that I get round around the club and in the dressing room, but at the moment it is fair to say that we need to stick together and really get behind the lads’ efforts out there on the pitch.”

New signings have been hinted at and Mark Robson was so engaged in this task in midweek that he could not find the time to attend the match at The New Den.

Tomorrow’s match programme will be a 68-pager and features the views of Mark Robson, skipper Jon Fortune, full analysis of our visitors and more stats than you can shake a stick at. It also contains a four-page tribute to the late Dennis Signy.

For those not able to attend the match, the Barnet Player service with Karl Bates at the helm will be providing full match commentary. One listener will be the Barnet Chairman who is in Cyprus dealing with matters relating to his father’s recent death.